Device for positioning parts



Nov. 27, 1951 A. J. MERLl-:s

DEVICE FOR POSITIONING PARTS 4 Sheets-Sheet l Filed April 20, 1948 Nov. 27, 1951 A. J. MERLES l DEVICE FOR POSITIONING PARTS 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aprilv 20, 1948 l N VE N TU R /N TO//VE JE/V/wE/PLES,

ATTORNEY A. J. MERLES DEVICE FOR POS'ITIONING PARTS Nov. 27, 1951 Y4 Sheets-Sheet `5 Filed April 20, 1948 ATTO RN EY NOV. 27, A A .J MERLES 2,576,305

DEVICE FOR POSITIONING PARTS Filed April 20, 1948 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 lq Q1 @l 6)" a" 'be ATR/VEY Patented Nov. 27, 1951 Application kprilZG, 1948; S e rialNo. 2,2;1931 n ln'France'Decemlien'z;1947

TheY presenti. inventiona relates to devices-1l for:

positioning-4 parts such; in` particulan-,. aslelements:

of radioelectrieY transmittensYi or: receivers;I of theA toi bezpositionedz is operated is".coupledi.tlnfoughta'LA speed. reducing. gear with; another`r shaft; so. that;-

thetotal? angle:v of; rotationf of.`- thiszlast .mentioned shaft'4 neven greater,A` than` 360iL and: the means:A fonpositivelyf locking. the; controlishaft; are oper.:.

y atively.vr connected with thea other shaftfso:` as. tos

beiablev to worin only-whenisaidtsecondgmentioned; shaft has rotated through an angle correspon y( ing tri-folie.v desired number ofnevolutionsofz said control shaft.,

Other; features off. my: invention will appenni from. the! following: detailed?A description ofi some prefer-rem emloodimentstx thereof, given; merely. by; wayof-fexample; .andsin whichizj Eig; 11, isi ai. diagrammatic'- View ofi ai. device acecordingfto-myinvervltiorr;A

Fig. 2 is. 9,-: partfview,l corre.Spondingv to amodi-f fiationi:

Fie;I 3g iS:..-.'i;` nerspectimvziewf 0n merger' scale Qffl a; dev-ice.:y fon` securingpfV in, a removable manner positioning discs on a shaft;

Fig;4 if showsyan: electric; diagram for? useV in conneononiwithathefdeyceof Eier 1:1..I

Fig. 5 is a sectional viewfon:anenlargedscale;

ontheliner-Eiof Eig. 6;; Figs 6'is` a front viewoLcontrol means?. fprf de. viesas Shown by Eisf 3;

Figi-'1 isla. View Similar'topis.. 6.- hutshowinssdifferentrelaivoipositon.Qfitheparts According to; the. embodiment-` illustrated; by

Fig..r 1,; the device; isf.L intended: to position a.. shaft4 a.. usedf, fon driving.; throughany A mechanicalv dei-v vice (gears, racks;I etc;)f,. a? partev suchr as` an*A adj.-

justahle.: inductancey coilg. for:A instance;f this shaftv beine: able to= occupy: anw of-r' ag. nur nber:A ofi' posi;-v

tions;. say tern. Een this;f purpose- I: fit,` onsaijt' :sol

sha-ft a; a..mannen adjustable air-,willi operator; ten discs-.Af (A1,. .l Am);j including, eachn a.. notch; I: intended: to: permit; positive;I lockt-u ingf engagement with the. fingen 2; of: one, ofi the; locking; levers.-

Shafteisacoupledthrough a'tspeed reducing gear..y 29, of .the positive; driveitype (ilemvithoutgpossiy. bility of slippingI in the tnansmissiomandwith as; little play as@ possible) :,4 with; anotherfshaft .a which is also fitted with ten discs A. (#AiAzi A' 1o.): correspondingy to x discsi. A1, respectively; and analogous ther-etenin@particular adaptedetoibe individuallyv adjusted:k im thev desired?A angular' posiz, tions withgrespectzto `#thelfSlneftnag Easihzofz these@ discs A. is provided; with; a notch: U1. 'Ehe'.y ratio; of.: the'` speed.: reducing: seariszsucn; that shaft: ai is never required to rotate through an anglerV greater-thanf..

ToA each. eroupaAfA of discs.therev corresponds. a iockinsflevenl.(Bue. Bio-)iwitihnsersf-s.. 2.. adapted: to= engage notches I1.. l-1,. respectively, thislever being: ndependent-andlmovable ahoufy an Sminssida'n. iiolpush-saidlef vers in .the directionilthe. :t ,yds-@torurgeingers 2.' toward. discs: Ai. anda also: nsers: 3;. Carried; byf' a. secondI arm: off. said levers;v toward: Ca. .SJD te be hereinafter referred to. Meanssuchasmon tact' E. insee-todi Suitable electric.; circuits. are provided to... stop; shaft-'zal whenv fingersA 2.; 2! havea enteredthennotchesl.I', l..

On. another sha-fet: ham@Q mounted ten come; 135v (Dr, 132l 11210:)n correshondinsfeachito:oneleveli B` and-.the correspondin dscszAf, Af .f Theseus-msi. rigid., with axis: h' as positioned at? an. angle of;

I 36.". from' onel anotheil andv arefeach. provided-,With

a noto-h intended: to?l cooperste2 with the corre-'- Spondinggneer '3.2

Shafts a and h are driven from a motor=lll/L- the fo11 owinga',manner;,y

MotorM drives s througln sl.1a.f.t.b;,endly less screw: c;, Wheel e vsithr` said; sexism, a; free-wheel olfrvicer5; shaft-g andqa frictiornclutch s, this. arrangement` nermittins manual. opera,- tion;` of: this shaft inboth; directions: wthdut; having; to` disconnect.. motor M: (since. freef wheeli- 5 permits rotation of shaft a in one directionand; friction clutch Brinfthe'otheriu 0u; theV othenhand;v motor.: M; drives-I shafty 71;- tlirough the; same; snai-.tfv hi. ana emiles'sf` screw; di. ai wheel; ffinamesh with. saldi endless;v screwf and freewheel: 6:. Thea geen ratio of? transmission. means d; fwith respect tof;thatoftransmissiommeans# c; e is ,suchY that; fins-any.l given, speed'- off motor M."

(shaftmip, .theaspeedfofrevolutiorrofshaft:In isthez Free Wheel devices and S are so arranged that when motor M is running in one direction, it drives shafts a and a' in the direction of arrow f1, but does not drive shaft h, whereas, when said motor is running in the opposed direction, it drives shaft h in the direction of arrow f2 but does not drive shafts a., a.

Control of the running of motor M, first in one direction toV drive shaft h, to operate cams D and then in'the opposite direction to operate t; discs A, A', is obtained through an electric sys-` tem (Fig. 4) includingI the following elements:

a. A ten positions switch including a conductor disc C, keyed on shaft h connected to the positive terminal of a source of current, and ten fixed contact studs p. Disc C is provided withv an insulating notch 'I so that it is in electric contact with these studs p with the exception of the one that is located in this notch l;

b. A control box (to permit control from a distance), this box comprising contacts K (K1, K2 K10) respectively connected to said contact studs pand, preferably, signal lamps V, which will be for instance all switched on (or off), except the one that corresponds' to the position that is chosen, these signal means permitting supervision from a distance;

c. A reversingrelay R1;

d. A stopping relay R2 connected with contact or contacts E1.

The operation of such a system is as follows:

If itis supposed, for instance, that K1 is closed and that the system is in position l (Fig. 1), it suffices in order automatically to obtain position 3` to close contact K2, which characterizes this '-iposition, while opening contact K1, that was closed.

Relay R1 is then supplied withcurrent through the following circuit: -I-, contact 3 of switch C, contact K3, relay R1 Relay R1 is operated.

Motor M is supplied with current, and turns in the direction corresponding to the drive of shaft h, (arrow f2) so that discs D and switch C are rotated. This movement goes on until the insulating notch I of said switch comes opposite contact stud p3, which brings relay R1 back to rest position.

During this movement, lever B1 is first lifted under the action of tooth 3 leaving notch 4. It

remains in this position, teeth 2 and 2 being therefore disengaged from notches I and I. As for the other levers B, they were already lifted since they were not engaged in their notches. At the end of this movement, lever B3 is inV a position such that its finger 3 is opposite the notch 4 of disc Da, whereas its fingers 2 and 2' are rubhing on the periphery of the corresponding discs A3 and Aa. A

On the other hand, it should be noted that, as allv levers B are lifted, contacts E are closed: it follows that as soon as relay R1 comes back to rest the motor starts in the opposed direction under the action of relay R2 which is energized through the following circuit: -I- taken on the plates of relay R1 at rest, contacts E, relay R2 the periphery of the corresponding discs D. As

for Ba, as above stated, its linger 3 is'located opposite the notch 4 of its disc D3.

Therefore, in

the course of the rotation of shaft a, the nger 2 of lever B3 would engage into the notch I of the corresponding disc Ao which passes n times opposite it if this were not prevented by the fact that the nnger 2 of this lever B3 is, during these n revolutions, running along the periphery of disc As, which prevents any lpossibility of pivoting of lever B3 toward the right. It is only when disc`A'; has rotated through an angle corresponding to n revolutions of shaft 1a, that the notch I of disc A3 comes opposite the tooth 2 -of lever B3 and permits engagement of fin-ger 2 withnotch I. Contact E3 is then opened and relay Rz brought back to position of rest. Motor M stops and the operation is finished, its result having been to bring shaft a. into the desired position 3 and positively to lock it in this position.

In order to enable nger 2 to engage correctly into its notch I, without any risk of interference resulting from the cooperation of the corresponding nger 2' with its notch I', said notch I is made substantially wider than its nger 2', so that finger 2 is ready to drop into notch I a short time before finger 2 comes exactly opposite its notch I. However, of course, the angular play thusprovided between I' and 2 must be smaller than` the angle through which shaft a' turns for one revolution of shaft a.

In View of the fact that fingers 2 engage with a certain play in their notches I', it is advantageous, especially in order to permit adjustment of discsA on shaft a (which adjustment is performed by rotating shaft a with respect tosaid discs disconnectedl therefrom and held in xed angular position), to provide means for holding discs A in fixed angular position, These means are of course to be kept normally out of action. The means in question consist, as shown by Fig. 1, in levers B' (B1, B'z, etc.) all freely pivoted, independently of one another, about a common spindle 23, each of these levers being provided with a tooth 22 adapted to engage, practically without play, a corresponding notch 2l provided in the corresponding' disc A'. Said notches 2| are substantially narrower than fingers 2 so that there is no risk of these fingers engaging in notches 2l. v

Levers B" are urged toward their position of engagement with the corresponding discs A by springs 7" (j1 iz etc.) but they are held in inoperative position by a common cam 25 mounted on a shaft 24. On the other hand, each lever B is rigid with an arm 2B engaged under a projection 21 of the corresponding lever B so that when a lever B has not its finger 2' engaged in" the notch I of the corresponding disc A' it prevents the corresponding lever B from engaging its tooth 22 into the notch 2| of saiddisc A'. This'result might be obtained by making use of cams D. Y l

With such an arrangement, adjustment of the angular position of a disc A and the corresponding disc A is performed as follows:

supposing the parts to -be in the position shown by Fig. l, i. e. the teeth 2 and 2' of lever B1 engaged in the notches l and Iv of the corresponding discs A1 and A1, the operator brings cam 25 into the position shown by thev drawing.

Lever`B1 is operated by its spring i1 to engage its tooth 22 into the notch 2I of disc A1, this operation being possible because the projection 2l of lever B1 is lifted due to said lever B1 having pivoted toward the left when its teeth 2 and 2' engaged into notches I and I', respecitively. But all the'l other levers B are held in apc-vegane:

inoperative f positionsl by thelowered' projections 2:1? of: the corresponding levers B;

'IT-'he operator. then' disconnects. discs Ar and Afrv from shaftsa andra", respectively.: Hecan tiren-'proceed toi ther desired adjustmentjby ro.-

t'ating shaftta,l while discs. A1 and. Ali remain locked in fixed position by lever B1 and Br..l

`When: this adjustment` hasv been performed,

discs.y A1 and Affi are again locked on their. re-- spective shafts a. and` a?, cam. 255 is: turned;v to y rotateleverfBi out. of engagement with: its. discv No and the system isready for operation'.v

Instead of acting separately upon the means for locking discs A and A' on their shafts a and a' and on cam-.25; I might perform these operations t simultaneously through al common control as diagrammatically shown at,281.

An exampleof meansfor. locking the above mentioned' discs, for inst-ance discs A, on their shaft' isvillustrated by Fics. 3`.

InL this. construction, shaft a. is provided with afl groove 55- in` which areengaged projections ofL corresponding shape ofi annular elements 54 thusislidably keyed on said-shaft.

Each of `thesee1ements-54 is adapted frictiona-llyrto engage acer-responding disc'A (Ai, A2, A3) when pressed against it in the axial direction.

Normally all these elements 54 are strongly applied against their discs A respectively, due to the ac-tion of a transverse pin l, pushed toward the right of Figs. 3 and 5 by a screw 56 engaged in shaft a, this pin 5I pushing a ring 52 which, through a resilient disc 53, tightly applies the adjoining elements 54 `and A against one another. by friction with respect -to shaft a..

When it is desired to adjust the angular position of one of the discs A, screw 55 is loosened. The friction between each of the discs and the corresponding element 54 can thus be reduced so that, if one of these discs is posi-tively prevented from rotating (by means of its lever B brought into positive engagement therewith) shaft a can be rotated with respect to this particular disc. As for the other discs, as nothing opposes their rotation together with shaft a, the frictional connection with this shaft is still suicient to keep them in the relative positions they occupied with respect to said shaft.

After this adjustment operation it suffices to tighten screw 56 to lock all of the discs securely on their shaft.

Of course, the same arrangement is provided for shaft a, corresponding elements being designated by the saine reference members with prime indices.

The above mentioned common control means 28 might advantageously be interposed between screw 56 and shaft 24.

These control means are for instance constituted by a lever Si! keyed on said shaft 24 and oscillable between two positions, respectively shown by Figs. 6 and 7, determined by abutments 6| and 62.

Lever 6B is in the form of a plate the rear face of which (as shown by Figs. 6 and 7) is pro- 6 vided with circular racks or rows of teeth 63, 63 meshing with the toothed heads B, 64 of screws 55, 56.

Thus, when iever G0 is brought into the position of Fig. 6, screws 56 and 56 (corresponding to shafts a and a') are tightened by circular racks 53, G3 rotating the toothed heads 4, 64 of said screws respectively. Discs A and A are locked on their respective shafts. Cam 25 is in Discs A are then securely locked Fig. 2; relates to' a modification according tor:v

which a third shafta is driven by; shaft.v af throughaispeedfreducing gear 2.9', discs-Af pro.- vided with notches being adapted tocooperate with? fingers' 2f carried' by levers?y B, the whole-f working-fl in. a manner" analogous to that'abovedescribedzwithareferenee to Fig. l. Suchganparrangement permits more accurate positioningj and;.chieiiy, satisfactory workingwhen thenum:` ber ofi revolutions. to be transmittedto'shaft/of'.v isiveryyhigh.. If the gear-1 ratio ofteach ofthe speech reducing.; gears is lik, thenumber n of' revoluf tions; andi angle:` a can easily. be" read; on)J dialsv driven: by the.rv respectiveshafts. While: thef essentie-l features of my inventionhave'f been showninthe accompanyingfdrawingsg, asappliedto a-.systemof the kind illustratedby Fig; 1 ofA the t. drawingsof. prior-U.. S., applica-.- tion. above referred; to; it, should'. be Well under."- stoodl that.v they,` mightA beincorporated; in'.v any other suitable systems of the same kind, for instance such as disclosed by Figs. 4 and 6 of this prior application.

It is pointed out that my device permits of obtaining a very high accuracy in the positioning of the parts to be controlled, the absolute errors that may take place` averaging 1,600 of a degree.

It should be well understood that the device according to my invention is applicable also to the case in which the shaft to be controlled rotates through angles not higher than 360. In this case, this shaft would be transmission means c, e, 5, g and 8 being interposed between motor M and shaft a.' Such an arrangement would multiply by K (ratio of gear 29) the precision of the positioning device.

Devices according to my invention may be used for the construction of counters, for instance by making use of the arrangement of Fig. 2.

In a general manner, while I have, in the above description, disclosed what I deem to be practical and efficient embodiments of my invention, it should be well understood that I do not wish to be limited thereto as there might be changes made in the arrangement, disposition and form of the parts without departing from the principle of the present invention as oomprehended within the scope of the accompanying claims.

What I claim is:

1. A device for positioning a shaft journalled in a frame which comprises, in combination, a

plurality of juxtaposed discs fixed on said shaft 0 rality of juxtaposed discs fixed on said second mentioned shaft coaxially therewith and provided with notches in their peripheries located in different radial planes respectively, each disc of the second shaft being located in the same plane as one disc of the rst shaft, respectively, a plurality o`f levers each located in one of said planes, respectively, and pivoted in said frame about an axis parallel to said shaft, each lever being provided with two projections adapted to accommodate the notches of the corresponding discs, respectively, spring means operatively connected with said lever for urging said projections toward the peripheries of said discs, respectively, cam means for holding said levers out of contact from said discs, respectively, said cam means being adjustable to release only one of said levers at a time into engagement with the Corresponding disc, selector means for adjustment of said cam means, a motor operative by said selector means for bringing said cam means into the selected position and rotating said shaft until the lever in operative position engages both of its projections into the respective notches of the corresponding dis-cs and stops and locks said shaft in the desired position, the notch provided in each of the discs mounted on the second mentioned shaft being wider than the corresponding tooth, the angular play between said notch and said tooth being however smaller than the angular displacement of said last mentioned shaft that corresponds to one revolution of the other shaft, and a supplementary locking device for the discs mounted on the second shaft,this device being adapted to be brought into or out of action at will.

2. A device according to claim 1, further including a unidirectional kinematic connection between the elements of this supplementary locking device and the levers, respectively, so that said supplementary locking device can be operative only on the disc locked by the corresponding lever.

3. A device according to claim 1, including tightening means for securing the discs on their respective shafts, and means for bringing the supplementary locking device into or out of action in response to operation of said tightening means.

ANTOINE JEAN MERLES.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the Iile of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,795,420 Beall Mar. 10, 1931 2,391,470 May Dec. 25, 1945 2,431,408 MacSorley Nov. 25, 1947 2,493,635 McKellip Jan. 3, 1950 2,494,486 Peterson Jan. l0, 1950 2,508,310 Tyler May 16, 1950 

